Gaza bomb suspect, two Hamas security officers killed in raid

Hamas security force members carry out a raid in the Gaza Strip that results in the arrest of a suspect in a recent bomb attack against the Palestinian prime minister but leaves two of their colleagues dead

Hamas security force members carry out a raid in the Gaza Strip that results in the arrest of a suspect in a recent bomb attack against the Palestinian prime minister but leaves two of their colleagues dead (AFP Photo/MOHAMMED ABED)

Nuseirat (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - The man Hamas called the main suspect in a bomb attack against the Palestinian prime minister in Gaza was killed in an arrest raid on Thursday that also left two members of the Islamist movement's security forces dead.

One of chief suspect Anas Abu Koussa's alleged accomplices in last week's attack was also killed in the raid, according to Hamas.

The raid came after Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, launched a manhunt to search for the perpetrators of a roadside bomb that left prime minister Rami Hamdallah unhurt on March 13.

But Hamdallah's government, which has already accused Hamas of carrying out the bomb attack, immediately labelled the Islamist group's version of events illogical.

Hamas's interior ministry in Gaza earlier announced the deaths and said a third suspect was under arrest, but did not say what motivated Abu Koussa.

It named the two members of the security forced killed as Hammad Abu Swerah and Ziad al-Howajri.

They were killed when dozens of Hamas security force members raided the area of Nuseirat, south of Gaza City, early Thursday, to search for Abu Koussa.

A bloody firefight ensued, leaving the four men dead and a number of others wounded, officials said.

Dozens of new checkpoints were erected throughout the Palestinian enclave with armed security forces searching cars, while Hamas prevented all Palestinians from Gaza from crossing the border into Israel, AFP correspondents said.

A small number of Gazans are given permits to enter Israel, despite the Jewish state’s crippling blockade of the enclave.

Islamists Hamas rule Gaza but Hamdallah leads the rival Palestinian government based in the West Bank under president Mahmud Abbas.

The two have been at odds since Hamas violently seized control of Gaza in 2007 and Abbas on Monday accused Hamas of carrying out the attack.

The bomb occurred during a rare visit by Hamdallah to Gaza as the two sides discuss a faltering peace deal.